一個老外的貴州旅行

翻譯／張 曉

綠如翡翠的流水、雄偉的山峰、雷鳴般的瀑布、柔軟的白云、清如水晶的藍天……如果我是一名游記作家，我將用這些詞語形容我的貴州旅行。但我不是，作為一個中文能力有限的外國人，我獨自在中國旅行，以此講述我的貴州之旅。

我的一位成長于貴州的朋友向我推薦了三個景點（線路）：黃果樹瀑布和龍宮、織金洞、荔波（大七孔）。這三個景點都美麗得令人窒息，尤其是其原始、自然的外貌。

首先，在我的酒店預定行程就像一項不可能完成的任務，但無論如何我完成了。他們要求我填寫一份3頁的中文合同，合同聲明旅行公司不對任何傷害和財產損失負責任。

交上了新朋友

當我走上旅行巴士的過道，所有人的視線都投向我，身后，乘客都向我扭頭。過道兩旁都是耳語聲——“外國人”。在貴州，外國人是不常見的，所以我就像一個名人，或者像動物園里的動物。我更喜歡做名人。

“嗨，你從哪兒來？”英語！有人對我說英語。我轉過頭，一個迷人的年輕女孩在我旁邊，微笑著。這簡直太好了，令人難以相信。我們就像在一個充滿了雕像、樹木、花兒的美麗花園。其他人也蹭過來想聽這位“名人”的講話。注意到周圍的聚攏的人群，我準備著自己的標準答案。

“我？我是中國人，你看。”我微笑著，指了指自己的臉，表明自己明顯的中國人特征。如往常一樣，大家都遲疑了，因為他們并不明白為何一個外國人稱自己為中國人。

“我和你們開玩笑，我是美國人。”我再次指了指自己。現在他們明白了，笑了起來。

“你呢？你是美國人嗎？”更多的笑聲。靳絲婷（音譯）——我新交的中國朋友——是和她的男朋友田侃（音譯）、表妹尤月（音譯）（被介紹為她的妹妹，我以為中國人這樣做是為了表明比表妹更近的關系）和她的姨媽，即尤月的媽媽（她的名字我不知道）一起來旅行的。我們說漢語和英語，并很快成為朋友。

回貴陽的路走了很長時間，并經過了一些非常貧窮、閉塞的村莊，這樣我更好地理解了很多中國人仍然過得非常困難。回到貴陽，我的新朋友們邀請我去一家地道的貴州餐館吃飯，我可以總結為一個詞——辣，尤其是魚，但仍然可口。飯間，他們邀請我加入他們第二天的去織金洞的行程，那也是個非常棒的地方。靳絲婷、尤月和田侃將會在8月底、9月來北京——我生活和教書的地方——參與一個他們大學的研究項目。游完后，我們相互道別，并希望在北京再見。

中國司機

我稍微偏離一下主題，討論一個稍敏感的問題：中國司機。毫不夸張地說，我在美國已經駕車行駛了大約100萬英里，遇到過各種各樣的困難情況，大城市的高峰時刻、糟糕的交通擁堵、年久失修的公路、崎嶇狹窄的盤山公路、破舊的汽車和卡車，凡是你想得起來的，我都開過。在這100萬英里的行程中，我有過一次輕微事故。所以我自認為是一個極好的（也非常自信的）司機。

但是，在看過中國的交通（更加準確地講是北京）30秒后，即使坐在方向盤后的這種想法都令我害怕。在聽到這些后，中國人都大笑，表明他們理解我的害怕。我提及這些是因為，在坐過各種旅行巴士后，我不得不說每一個巴士司機的技術都令我印象深刻。他們以安全的速度行駛，路面顛簸時減速，尤其值得一提的是，他們有能力穿過山間公路的狹窄通道，通過山村，村里的道路停滿了拖拉機和卡車，幾乎不可能穿過。我可不愿意做這樣的司機。但是，在下坡路時，依照中國傳統的駕駛習慣，每個司機都會在接近路上的另一輛車時鳴喇叭，接近時再次鳴喇叭，好讓另一個司機知道我們的車將要通過。每一次經過山路的拐彎，司機會多次按響喇叭。這些（對我來說）是刺耳的、痛苦的噪音。我明白，這些都是為了安全起見，但仍然難以習慣。和我一起的中國乘客似乎很健忘。

好奇與善良

第二天，因為長途的車程和旅行我決定休息，所以我去了貴陽的黔靈公園。公園很大，很漂亮，在幾個小時的爬山和散步后，我坐在了一個長椅上，一個年輕婦女的旁邊，因為其他的長椅都坐滿了人。她問我從哪兒來，你可以猜出我的答案。很快，大約十來個人圍過來，問問題。他們知道的唯一英語通常是“你好！”只能講中文，我的答案99%都是“聽不懂”，但他們并不覺得沮喪。還是不斷地說著，問問題，時而微笑時而大笑。一個年齡稍大的婦女離開時，她對我說“再見”，還給了我一個飛吻。太可愛了！

接下來的兩天，我參加了一個荔波兩日游，來回各6個小時的行程。酒店預訂辦公室的女職員堅持把我送上旅游巴士，她怕我自己根本找不到車。早晨6點半，下著糟糕的雨，她在酒店等我，我們打車到了一個喧鬧、擁擠的地方，成百上千的旅游巴士排成了隊，到處是人，一片嘈雜。她給導游打了兩次電話，然后說，“這邊，”就帶我穿過人群、車隊，在一片雨水、泥濘中找到了車。導游非常友好地和我打招呼，我上了車，又一次成為大家關注的中心。

事故

大自然賦予荔波的美將永遠是我的美好回憶，但發生在荔波的一次意外事故也讓我記住了這個旅游景點：一個女性差一點就丟掉了性命，而且這一切就發生在我旁邊。事故發生得特別突然。一家人讓我給他們在美麗的瀑布前拍照，他們是我剛認識的朋友。正當我調整焦距，突然有人尖叫，相機鏡頭中，這家的女主人正驚慌地指著。向下看去，石橋上石洞眾多，在我旁邊的一個石洞下面，一只手伸出水面向石橋上爬。水面正貼著橋底，看上去很平靜，其實不然。水流很急，正是上邊瀑布沖下來的激流，如果抓不住，她就會被水流沖下去，通過橋下的水面，一瞬間，我確認我看到的是一只手。幸運的是，當我俯身去抓她，另一個人，他應該看到了落水并意識到了危險，跳進了水里，托起了那個氣喘吁吁的、被嚇壞了的落水者，我順勢抓住了她，并把她從水里完全拉了上來。她仍然大口地喘氣，所幸并沒有受傷。

長途旅行后，我回到酒店，在貴陽的最后一晚，我回想了自己的旅程：美麗的風景、嘈雜、偏遠地區人們的困難生活、當地人的善良和好奇和我新結識的朋友，對自己的所見和經歷我感到愉悅。

Emerald green water， wispy fingers of fog， majestic mountains， thundering waterfalls， pillowy white clouds， crystal-clear blue skies ... these are phrases I would use to describe my vacation in Guizhou if I were a travel writer. But I'm not， I'd rather talk about my experience as a foreigner， with limited Chinese skills， traveling alone in China.

Three tours were recommended to me by a friend who grew up in Guizhou: Huangguoshu Waterfall and Dragon Palace Cave， Zhijin Cave， and Libo (Da Qi Kong ). All three places are breathtakingly beautiful， nature in its purest form; (fill in above phrases here).

First of all， booking the tour in my hotel is like a new release of Mission Impossible， but somehow I accomplish my mission. They ask me to sign a 3-page contract， all in Chinese， of course， no doubt stating that the tour company would not be responsible for any injury or property damage.

Making New Friends

As I walk down the aisle of the tour bus， all eyes are on me， heads turn as I walk past. Whispers of \"waiguoren\" criss-cross the aisles. In Guizhou， foreigners are still uncommon， so I'm like a celebrity ... or an animal in a zoo. I prefer celebrity.

\"Hello， where are you from?\" English!! Someone is speaking English to me. Turning my head， there's an attractive young woman beside me， smiling. It's almost too good to be true. We're in a beautiful garden with statues， trees and lovely flowers (don't ask what kind). Others on the tour discreetly creep closer to hear their \"celebrity\" speak. Noticing the gathering crowd， I prepare my standard answer to the question.

\"Wo? Wo shi Zhongguoren. Ni kan. \" Then， smiling， I point to my face to indicate my \"obvious\" Chinese features. As usual， there's a little hesitation because they don't quite know what to make of a foreigner saying he's Chinese.

\"Wo gen ni men kai wan xiao. Wo shi Meiguoren.\" as I point again to my face. Now they get it， and start giggling.

\"Ni ne? Ni shi Meiguoren ma?\" More giggles. Jin Si Ding， my new friend， is traveling with her boyfriend， Tian Kan， her cousin (introduced as her sister; the Chinese do that， I believe， to indicate a closer relationship than mere cousins)， You Yue， and her aunt， You Yue's mother， whose name I never got. We speak in English and Chinese and become friends quickly. After the long bus ride back to Guiyang， through some really poor， remote villages， which give me a better understanding and appreciation of how difficult many Chinese people's lives still are， they invite me to dinner at a restaurant that serves traditional Guizhou food. I can sum it up in one word ... H-O-T， especially the fish， but still delicious.

During dinner， they invite me to join them the next day on their tour to Zhijin Cave， which turns out to be another excellent tour. Jin Si Ding， You Yue and Tian Kan will be in Beijing， where I live and teach， for a research project for their university from late August through Sept. We say good-bye after the tour， but look forward to seeing each other again in Beijing.

Chinese Driver

I need to digress for a few moments to discuss perhaps a slightly sensitive topic; Chinese drivers. I've driven approximately 1，000，000 miles in the US， no exaggeration， in all kinds of difficult conditions; rush hour in big cities， awful traffic congestion， bad roads， winding narrow mountain roads， bad cars， bad trucks， you name it， I've driven it. In driving those one million miles， I've had one fender-bender. So I consider myself a pretty good (and confident) driver.

However， after about 30 seconds of observing traffic in China (more precisely， Beijing)， I became terrified at even the thought of getting behind the steering wheel in Beijing traffic. Even Chinese people laugh when I mention this， indicating they understand my fear. I mention all this because after all those hours as a passenger in various tour buses， I have to say I was very impressed at the skill demonstrated by each of my tour bus drivers. They drove at safe speeds， slowed down for bumps in the road， and especially noticeable was their ability to maneuver through impossibly tiny openings on mountain roads， or through mountain villages where workers left their tractors and trucks on the side of the road， forcing the tour drivers to squeeze big buses through impossibly narrow passages. I wouldn't want to be those drivers. However， on the down side， following Chinese driving tradition， each driver blasted his horn as it approached another vehicle in a different lane， then blasted again as it sped closer， to let the other driver know our bus was about to pass. At each curve in the mountain roads， and there were many， the driver blasted his horn a couple of times again. These were (to me) ear-splitting， torturous noises. All this， I understand， was for safety purposes， but still impossible to get used to. My fellow Chinese passengers seemed oblivious.

Curiosity and kindness

The following day， I need a break from long bus rides and tours， so I go to Qianling Park in Guiyang. It's a big， beautiful park， and after a couple of hours walking and climbing small mountains， I sit next to a young woman on a bench， as all the other benches are full. She asks where I'm from. You can guess my reply. Soon， there are about ten people gathered around asking me questions， speaking the only phrase they know in English， usually \"How are you?\" But mostly they speak Chinese and aren't at all discouraged that 99% of my answers are， \"Ting bu dong.\" They keep speaking， asking questions， smiling and laughing. As one older woman leaves， she says \"bye bye\" and blows me a kiss. So cute!

The next day I join a two-day tour to Libo; six-hour bus ride each way. The woman in the hotel booking office insists on accompanying me to the tour bus as she fears I might not be able to find it by myself. She meets me at the hotel at 6:30am on a miserable rainy morning， and rides with me in a taxi to a crowded area with a million tour buses lined up， people everywhere; total chaos. After two phone calls to the tour guide， she says， \"Zhe bian，\" and leads me through the mass of people， buses， rain， and puddles to my bus. The friendly guide greets me and I get on the bus， once again the center of attention.

The Accident

The natural beauty of Libo will forever be a wonderful memory， but I will also remember Libo as the tour in which a woman was nearly killed right next to me. It happened so suddenly. A family that I'd become friends with asked me to take their photo in front of a beautiful waterfall. As I'm focusing the camera， suddenly people are screaming， the woman in the camera lens is pointing frantically. Looking down， into one of the many holes in the stone bridge above the rushing water from the waterfall， there's a hand extended from below the water， barely clinging to the surface of the bridge， just beside my foot. The water on the surface just below the bridge， visible through the hole， seems calm， but that's an illusion. This is rushing water from the waterfall， and if the person's hand slips， she'll be swept down the river rapids through rocks at high-speed. All this takes a moment to register in the instant that I see the hand. As I bend down to grab it and try to pull up， fortunately another man， who must have seen the woman fall in and immediately realized the danger， jumps into the water， pulls up the gasping， terrified woman from her lower body， allowing me to grasp under her arms and pull her completely out of the water. She continues to gasp for air but otherwise seems unharmed.

After the long bus ride back to my hotel， my last night in Guiyang， I reflect back on my trip; the beauty， chaos， living conditions in the remote areas， the kindness and curiosity of the local Chinese people， the new friends I'd made， I can't help feeling almost euphoric about all I saw and experienced.